The Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government had earlier turned down opposition leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav’s plea to allow him to retain the bungalow allotted to him when he was the deputy chief minister.

Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and other former ministers from the RJD are still residing in bungalows allotted to them when they were in the government.(PTI File Photo)

The Bihar building construction department (BCD) has served notices on former ministers, including former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, to vacate their official residences immediately or pay rent 15 times the standard market rate of the premises.

“Except former minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui, all other ex-ministers who were provided accommodation by the BCD, have not vacated their bungalows,” said BCD minister Maheshwar Hazari. As per norms, former ministers are liable to pay in lakhs as monthly rent if they decline to move out of the premises immediately.

This is the second time when the BCD has served notices on them to vacate the bungalows. A month after Nitish Kumar parted ways with the Grand Alliance comprising the RJD and Congress and took oath as chief minister on July 27 early this year to form an NDA government with support from the BJP and its allies, the BCD asked the ministers belonging to the RJD and the Congress to vacate the houses.

At present, many ministers of the new dispensation, mostly belonging to the BJP, are compelled to reside and discharge their duties either out of their own flats or small houses provided from the state legislature quota. Urban development minister Suresh Sharma said he was facing a lot of inconvenience in meeting people and officials at home as he was staying in a flat of an apartment.

Tejashwi and his elder brother and former health minister Tej Pratap Yadav are occupying spacious bungalows adjacent to the chief minister’s official residence.